Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide Book

I try to avoid the temptation to rate every book I read 5 stars and state it's a must read. However, "Hipster Christianity" by Brett McCracken gets the nod. I cannot recommend this book enough, but it's especially timely for church planters, even though the book was written in 2010.

McCracken lays the book out in three parts and all help drive towards the final chapters conclusion about the question of if Cool & Christian can and should coexist. The historical/sociological tracing of hipster/cool from the Enlightenment to present day is worth the cost of the book (Chapters 1-5). Especially insightful is the intertwining of the 60's-70's era hip movement with the move of the church to position themselves to reach younger twentysomethings.

The middle four chapters (6-9) lay out the then current hipster practices that were prevalent in the church and Christian world. I say were because as McCracken lays out in the book, cool is always moving and therefore nothing stays relevant for long. While some names have since been disgraced (Driscoll & Tchividjian) and some are diminished (Jones, Kimball, etc.) they still serve as touch-points for looking back to understand where we currently stand in evangelicalism.

Lastly, the final five chapters (10-14) serve as a critique and call forward into truly authentic Christian worship, practice, and engagement with the culture. Somewhere along the way you will feel the prick of conscience wherein you identify with your sin issues in pursuing coolness at the expense of faithful, biblical Christianity. The last two chapters are some of the best I've read by way of encouragement to grab hold of the church because it is the work of God in Christ through us.

The reason this book needs to be read, especially by church planters, is because it helps us understand how we got here, in 2017, from the origins of Christian hip in 2003. If you aren't a pastor/church planter but desire to better understand how we got here then read this book.